ABOUT TITLE IX AT WVSU

Title IX

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces, among other statutes, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that {20 U.S.C. § 1681(a)}:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Title IX Requirements
A school “shall designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities” under the law, including the investigation of complaints.”
A school shall “notify all its students and employees of the name, office address, and telephone number of the employee(s) appointed.”

Scope of Title IX
Title IX applies to institutions that receive federal financial assistance from Department of Education, including state and local educational agencies. These agencies include approximately 16,500 local school districts, 7,000 post-secondary institutions, as well as charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, and museums. Also included are vocational rehabilitation agencies and education agencies of 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories and possessions of the United States.

Educational programs and activities that receive ED funds must operate in a nondiscriminatory manner. Some key issue areas in which recipients have Title IX obligations are: recruitment, admissions, and counseling; financial assistance; athletics; sex-based harassment; treatment of pregnant and parenting students; discipline; single-sex education; and employment. Also, a recipient may not retaliate against any person for opposing an unlawful educational practice or policy, or made charges, testified or participated in any complaint action under Title IX. For a recipient to retaliate in any way is considered a violation of Title IX. The ED Title IX regulations (Volume 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 106) provide additional information about the forms of discrimination prohibited by Title IX.

Title IX helps to foster a safe and respectful University environment. In addition to knowing who WVSU’s Title IX Coordinator is, you should also be knowledgeable of why Title IX is important to you, and our University community, what your rights are, who is confidential and who isn’t. You can request a Title IX training or meet with a Title IX staff member by calling (304) 766-5224.